Judgement Day (The Intern Diaries Book 5), page 15
I really missed my car.
Pestilence and Death were exiting the lab followed by Ninth. Junior lagged behind, his hair in a mess and his coat scorched with burn marks. Whatever Pestilence had done in the lab had poor Junior wiping sweat from his face.
“Any problems?” Death asked as I hopped out of the truck.
“Not this time,” I told her.
“Mistress.” Eugene ran up to Pestilence as soon as he jumped out.
“Rookie,” Pestilence answered. “We made some progress. But like I feared, the technology is not advanced enough to hold the amount of energy needed to burn a vampire down.”
“I think I have an idea.” Eugene did not dare look Pestilence in the eyes. “What if we created a grenade that was fueled with holy water and an accelerant? We have grenade launchers.”
“That is an interesting idea.” Pestilence snapped her fingers and the room went still. “Bring us as much holy water as you have and several cases of grenades.”
The Triplets were the first ones to move and obey Pestilence. None of the other Interns were that excited to spend any time with Pestilence if it wasn’t mandatory. Maybe it was the fact that they were fully human and had the least amount of exposure to the horseman. The rest of us went about our business.
“That’s a great idea, but we don’t have time to wait,” Katrina announced. “The meeting is in forty-five minutes and we need to be there. Isis, you better get ready. We roll out in fifteen.”
“Got it,” I told her. “Death, do you need me?”
“If Marie is back, be very careful Isis.” Death crossed her arms over her immaculate white suit. “She is powerful and has been avoiding me for hundreds of years. Marie won’t hesitate to kill you.”
“She has been working hard at trying to kill me these last few days, so what else is new?” I asked. “Katrina, who is coming with us?”
“Bob, Shorty, and the Triplets if they stop serving Pestilence.” Katrina watched the three men carrying more containers to the lab. “And five more troops.”
“Is that enough?” For a regular house raid, that would be too many. For this, I didn’t think so.
“Consider it a small recon mission. It will do.” Katrina pushed me towards the stairs. “Now hurry.”
I took the steps two at a time because I needed to change to my body armor to one similar to the one Welch had modified for us. Except that mine was blessed by my Godmother. The same person who was standing in the middle of Reapers with ripped clothes and messy hair when I entered. She was flanked by four other witches.
“God,” I shouted and rushed at her.
“Hi honey.” Godmother held me tight.
“What happened to you?” Godmother had bruises on her face as well as her arms. Her pants were ripped and not in a fashionable kind of way.
“It’s been a long journey here,” she replied, fixing my hair. “I really should be going with you.”
“Are you serious?” I shouted.
“High Priestess, you are in no condition,” one of her male companions told her.
“I agree with grown-up Harry Potter over there.” It wasn’t fair to make fun of him at a time like this, but I couldn’t help it. He did look like Harry Potter.
“Your mouth is not going to save you from the threat that comes our way,” grown-up Harry Potter told me.
“Anthony, please.” Godmother calmed Harry Potter down. “We are all on the same team.”
“Are we?” Anthony glared at me. “If it wasn’t because of her, they would have never dared to attack you.”
“Is that what you all think?” Godmother asked all four witches. “Yes, I was attacked but not because Isis is my goddaughter. I was targeted because they knew I would never go against the horsemen. We are alive because of her. Or do you think the horsemen will forgive anyone who declared war on them?”
None of the witches replied, instead they sat at the dining room chairs. Godmother focused all her attention on me.
“Isis, please promise me you are going to be careful.” Godmother held both of my hands.
“Godmother, don’t worry about me. You need rest.” I tried pulling away, but she held me tight.
“Promise me,” she repeated.
“I promise,” I told her. I could always try, but that didn’t mean it was going to happen. “You can have my room.”
“Constantine already made accommodations,” she told me. “We’ve been on the run since I spoke to you. It appears the damage to the order was a lot deeper than I anticipated. We were hunted all the way here.”
My heart rate increased, and I wanted to hold my Godmother tight.
“Relax little one.” Godmother gave me another hug. “You have work to do and so do we. I love you.”
My Godmother kissed my cheeks and left the Loft. Her four minions followed her, none of them glancing in my direction. Not that I cared, but they could at least pretend to be polite in my house. I rushed towards my room to get dressed.
I’m in over my head.
I couldn’t get the thought out of my mind. My heart rate was still elevated, and my hands were sweating. I paced the length of my room while taking deep breaths. Not even the soft jazz playing through the speaker system could soothe my soul. If my Godmother, who was hundreds of years old and super powerful, barely survived, how was I going to keep everyone alive? I needed to focus and quickly. I dropped to the ground and set my watch. Two minutes. It was only two minutes, but I did as many pushups as my body could handle. My mind started clearing around push-up number forty. By fifty-nine I could think straight again.
I laid on the ground and just breathed. I wasn’t going to cry. I wasn’t going to break down. We were going to find Bartholomew and make these fools pay for all our suffering. I was going to get them back if it was the last thing I ever did.
“Are you feeling better?” Death asked, startling me from my thoughts.
“When did you have time to come up?”
Death stood, moving to the bed and taking a seat closer to me. “You looked worried,” she replied. “I didn’t want to pressure you in front of the group. What is on your mind?”
“Everything,” I replied. “The weight of the world. On top of that, I have a soul telling me I need magic to win this war. What kind of magic?”
I rolled on the ground to face the glow in the dark stars on my ceiling. My heart rate was starting to slow down, at least.
“You are battling supernatural creatures,” Death answered after a few minutes of silence. “Human strength and willpower will not be enough. When the time comes, you will know what to do.”
“That is absolutely not helpful,” I told her.
“Neither is too much information,” she replied. “Too much knowledge can have dangerous consequences. It can make you arrogant, and in turn clumsy. Or you can end up immobile with fear and terror. Focus on the present and you will find a way. You better hurry, though. Katrina is getting impatience.”
Death pulled me from the floor and pushed me to the bathroom. If my options were clumsy or immobile, then Death was right. Too much knowledge was not worth the risk. Guessed this giant mess was going to be tackled the same way I did everything else. I was going to make it up as we went along. Hopefully other people were praying for us because we needed all the prayers we could get.
The Four States Fairgrounds was located on the Arkansas side, second exit off Interstate Thirty. It was no surprise the place was deserted and dark. There was nothing going on at the fairground this Thursday night. With all the Fourth of July celebrations taking place the weekend before, there was not a soul in sight. We parked across the street from the fairground to avoid too much attention from potential witnesses. It was hard considering we were the only vehicles in the area. The group climbed from the vehicles, and we inspected our weapons.
“I recommend going around the back,” Bob told us.
“I second that,” Shorty jumped in. “We will have a few more places to hide.”
“Lead the way then,” Katrina told them.
We followed Bob and Shorty quickly across the field. Katrina unlocked the metal gate, blocking our path towards the back. The Triplets were covering the rear, each carrying modified M16s. I didn’t recognize any of the five guys with us. We had a lot of new recruits, and I was having a hard time keeping up with everyone. They were all young, and I doubted any of them were over twenty. They were a little fidgety, but they held their weapons steady even if their gazes jumped from shadow to shadow.
Lord, protect us.
We were going to need all the help we could get tonight, and silent prayers never hurt anyone. We made it to the back of the Fairgrounds, stopping right in front of the horse stables. The place was pitch black.
“Are you sure anyone is here?” one of the young guys asked.
“They don’t need light to see and they have exceptional hearing,” Katrina told him. “Stay calm and try to not shoot any of us.”
Katrina made a very valid point. If anyone on our team got trigger happy by the monster, we could all end up being collateral damage. Maybe I should have done a rosary before getting here. It appeared we needed a lot more prayers than the one I just sent up.
Katrina and Bob were the first ones through the doors. In a perfect military formation all in a V shape, we entered the fairgrounds in silence. Everyone donned their night vision googles and moved deeper inside the area. The fairgrounds were the biggest event facility in Texarkana. With bleachers on both sides of the arena, the place could easily hold hundreds of people.
Bob stopped the group from advancing, then gave us a signal to remain quiet and move closer to the center. From our angle, the place looked desolate until I heard voices coming from the arena. The sounds were faint, and it took me several minutes to find them. Two massive vampires and three shifters stood around a female vampire who was sitting on a barrel. The arena this evening was set up for barrel racing, with some extra rolls of hay littering the place.
“We want the Americas,” one of the shifters said.
“I’m not giving you both North and South America,” the female replied in a sexy European accent. “Pick the countries you want, but you are not getting the whole thing. I already told you that before.”
“Yes, but my people have no interest in claiming terrains overseas,” the shifter replied.
It was very hard to see details with night vision googles. Everyone had that strange aura that came with this type of surveillance.
“It will be great for you to see other parts of the world,” the vampires added. “But I’d rather wait on victory negotiations until we know we have won.”
“The horsemen will ride,” the shifter told her.
“You said that two days ago and nothing,” the vampire snapped. “We cannot take any chances. You underestimated the tenacity of Constantine and the will of his Interns.”
“We shouldn’t, since they are here,” the vampire to her right motioned in our direction.
“Guess the surprise is over,” said Katrina, charging at the small group.
The rest of us did not have any choice but to follow the super soldier to battle. This battle was like nothing I’d ever experienced. The vampires moved like shadows. One minute they were standing in front of me, the next they were gone. I pulled out my scythe and commenced assault maneuvers. The shifters didn’t bother turning to their animal forms. They just transformed their hands into claws and charged at us. Within two minutes, our five young guys were knocked out on the ground bleeding from different places. I connected a handful of punches before one of the shifters punched me in the chest. I landed a few feet away. Thankfully it was not nearly as hard as Famine’s punches.
It took me several seconds for my breathing to come back to normal. I took the googles off and decided to follow my senses instead. Battle was raging around me, as my team shot at the shifter without luck. It was like they were dodging moving bullets. I could hear the vampires but finding them was impossible.
“I’m going to kill you,” Katrina shouted, and I decided to follow her voice.
Laugher filled the arena. I couldn’t hear Katrina, but I could sense her. By the time I reached her, she was pinned down by one of the vampires. His jaw was extended and moving towards Katrina’s jaw way too quickly for my liking. I spun the scythe as hard as I could, but I was not fast enough. The vampire turned just in time and grabbed the scythe with one hand. The beast underneath the pretty face stared at me but only briefly.
That was the curse of Death’s Interns; we could see the real beast. The fact that the real self only lasted a few seconds was a problem. It meant this vampire was old and powerful to maintain the glamour for that long. He extended his fangs and licked his lips. I grabbed the closest gun I had and opened fire. Bullets were useless with this monster, but they still served for shock value. The vampire bounced off Katrina a few feet away from us and released my scythe. I continued to open fire as Katrina got off the floor.
“Holy water is useless on them,” Katrina shouted, covering my back.
“Great” I yelled changing guns.
“Is this how you plan to die, little Interns,” the female vampire spoke.
Her voice was close but we couldn’t find her. She laughed, and this time I looked up.
“Holy crap,” I said. “She is on the ceiling.”
The vampire was walking upside down on the ceiling of the fairgrounds right above our heads.
“That’s a new level of crazy,” Katrina told me.
“Now what?” I asked her.
“We have too many wounded. We need to get out of here,” Katrina admitted.
“You can’t leave,” the female said from above. “We are going to have so much fun.”
“Not if I send you to hell first.” Shorty rushed at us.
“Shorty. NO,” I screamed.
Shorty let out his own evil laugh as he used the flamethrower he was carrying to set fire to the fairgrounds. The entire place went up in a blaze of smoke and flames. Bob and Shorty did not believe in overkill, but this was probably the exception.
“Bob, Triplets, grab the wounded,” I ordered, running to the closest injured guy.
“What a pity,” the female vampire said before flying from the building.
“She can fly,” Katrina growled.
“Yes, and her little friends can dodge bullets,” I told her, struggling to pick up the young man.
“Cover me, I got him.” Katrina handed me her rifle and picked up the young man.
Without even breathing hard, she rolled the guy over her shoulder in a fireman-hold. The flames were spreading all around us and the smoke thickening.
“We need to go,” I shouted at my team.
“Isis, take point and Shorty will cover the rear,” Bob yelled from the back.
“Shorty, are you ready?” I asked, inspecting the area.
“Ready,” Shorty replied, still sending flames all around him.
“Moving.” I took off at a slow shuffle to ensure those carrying the injured could keep up.
Katrina was the fastest of the group. Carrying wounded was a basic drill in the military and she’d had years of practice mastering it. She moved with the ease of a runner even with her load. I didn’t bother concealing our retreat. If any of the six attacked us, we were doomed. We rushed out of the fairgrounds and across the parking lot towards our vehicles.
We were not followed by either vampires or shifter, and that worried me. Katrina lowered the young man to the ground once we reached the vehicles. We both turned to face the road to provide back up for everyone else making their way to the vehicle.
“Did anyone follow you?” I asked Shorty as he ran in my direction.
“Nothing,” Shorty replied, standing by my side inspecting the area. “I could feel something watching us inside the fairgrounds. But as soon as we left the area it was gone.”
“Why didn’t they attack us?” Katrina asked, helping Bob and the Triplets with the wounded. “We were defenseless here.”
“Because I was here,” Death said from behind the vehicles.
“Now that makes more sense,” said Katrina. “Thank you, Death.”
“I might not be able to interfere, but I will not send you to a suicide mission if I can help it,” Death told us.
“Was that the same vampire you and Constantine warned us about?” I asked Death, not lowering my gun.
“Yes,” Death replied softly. “That is Marie, and she is more powerful than any vampire on this side of the ocean.”
“Boss Lady, we need to go,” Shorty told me. “Our guys are not looking good at all.”
“We are heading to the station since it’s closer than Reapers from here,” I told them. “Death, are you coming with us?”
“Only to the doors. Once you are secure I’ll go.” Death crossed her arms and stood guard. “I got this, go help them.”
I left Death and rushed over to Katrina. We had to stop the bleeding of all the guys before we loaded them in the vehicles. Blood was everywhere, and we had to improvise with dressings. Our first-aid kits did not contain enough bandages to cover all the affected areas. We ripped the guys’ shirts, as well as the tank tops Katrina and I were wearing under our gear, to make more bandages. Since none of them were Interns, trying to have Death heal them could end up killing them instead.
“Isis, are you guys almost done?” Bob asked.
“Done,” I replied.
We distributed the wounded troops between all the trucks. In their condition, they took up a lot more space than before.
“Good.” Bob advanced to the front vehicle. “Shorty, you drive the second truck. Number one, take the third truck. Isis, you’re with Shorty, and Katrina with number one. The rest with me.”
“Boss Death, where would you like to ride?” Shorty asked as he glanced at all the vehicles.
“I’ll take the top,” Death told him, hopping on the bed of Bob’s truck.
